We hear a lot in the papers about ‘rogue’ pro-life counselling agencies. But what of rogue fertility clinics? The fertility business is huge and anxious couples pay a very great deal of money in their efforts to become pregnant, efforts that often result in failure. Sally Cheshire, chairman of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)...
The bombings at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka at the weekend has grabbed the world’s headlines. But out of sight and out of mind, persecution of Christians and other religious minorities is now all too commonplace and underreported. For example, a couple of weeks ago in Qianyang, China, a pastor and his parishioners watched...
Ireland needs to have a debate about the use of ‘CRISPR’ technology, a gene-editing technique that can affect the DNA of future generations of human beings. A number of eminent scientists and bioethicists have recently called for a moratorium on techniques to make genetically modified children. They believe that a proper debate is urgent in...
Tens of millions of people all over the world are shocked by the fire that destroyed much of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris last night. President Macron has promised to rebuild it and hundreds of millions of euro have already been pledge for that purpose. The magnificent cathedral is not alone a symbol of France,...
Tonight. RTE airs a documentary called ‘Rome v Republic’. To judge by the preview articles, it will be sharply critical of the Catholic Church. How original. Its director, Niamh Sammon, had an opinion piece in the Irish Times the other day in which she asks if it is right ‘that institutions that presided over the...
In a talk recently in Malahide. Maria Steen (pictured) of The Iona Institute outlined the growing threat to denominational education and the right of parents, including Christian ones, to send their children to schools that will educate them according to their wishes. Increasingly, it is the State’s view that prevails over that of parents. You...
Parents and teachers are objecting to proposals to divest one of eight Catholic schools in Malahide, Kinsealy and Portmarnock in north Dublin to another educational patron. David Quinn appeared on the Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk during the week to discuss the matter, as well as on RTE’s Drivetime. You can listen to items here...
This is a sort of man bites dog story that reverses the usual expectations, but according to a big new American survey, people in their 20s are having sex less often than people in their 30s, or even in their 50s. But your 20s are supposed to be the time of maximum libido, so what...
A new article on the Institute for Family Studies website looks at the positive outcomes associated with praying by married couples. Researchers have found an association between couple prayer and “forgiveness, trust and unity, decreased infidelity, and increased relationship satisfaction and commitment, particularly when couples pray for one another (i.e., intercessory prayer).” You can read...
The Oireachtas Health Committee met recently for the last pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill that will regulate Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR). The hearings have confirmed that the Committee suffers from huge blind spots about some of pitfalls of AHR and the undermining in many cases of the rights of the resultant children. Two representatives of...
